The Weeping Wastes
by MatureFetus
Summary: Roxanne sets out on a search to find her father. Out in the Capitol Wasteland, things are much more challenging than dealing with a couple bullies and a few radroaches. People actually need her. Does she want to help? Probably not. Will she help? Probably so.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hmmm this is a hella old idea that I needed to write. Also yay first submission? Hahahah. I'm so excited to get this going.**

**I have no clue where I'm going with this. Just saddle up, buckaroo, and enjoy the ride. B)  
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><p>Catching sight of a shabby wooden door at the end of the tunnel urged Roxanne's legs to continue moving at a brisk pace. One last bullet whizzed by her before the shooting ceased. Roxanne figured the vault security were too scared to set foot past the vault door by the sound of their protests.<p>

"I'm not going out there!"

"Quick, close the door before she gets back in here!"

Just as Roxanne's hand shot out to grab the handle of the door, she heard the screeching of metal on metal of the vault door sealing shut. With no hesitation, she darted out of the door without looking back at her previous home.

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><p>Her boots hit dry dirt and the air was more fresh feeling compared to the vault. She stopped to catch her breath and looked up. The intense light from above blinded her; she was not prepared for that at all. Roxanne's golden copper hands quickly made their way to shield her eyes. "Shit, too bright," she muttered. She carefully navigated her way to find a place to rest on while her eyes adjusted to the change of lighting. She found a rock to sit on and threw her pack onto the ground beside her.<p>

Her thoughts wandered back to the events from earlier that morning. Waking up to Amata's crying, her father missing, and the entire vault's insanity. That was _definitely_ not what she had in mind for today. Roxanne wasn't too pleased to wake up to Amata's face, but she was thankful for the warning of what her father had done. Today was the most that Roxanne and Amata have spoken to each other in one conversation in years. They have hardly spoken to each other since they were kids. Roxanne never did quite fit in. The vault began looking down on her as she aged. As a result, she begun to spend more time avoiding people by staying in the lab with her father and Jonas on her free time.

Jonas. That was another thing gone wrong today. Roxanne didn't believe it when Amata informed her of his death, so she had to find out for herself. It made her sick just thinking about him now. Roxanne felt that she could trust Jonas with anything. Any odd secret (or what she had believed to be odd compared to the rest of the vault) Roxanne had or any injuries from fist fights with the Tunnel Snakes that she didn't want her father to find out about, Jonas took care of that. The Overseer is all kinds of fucked up if he thinks he will get away with what happened with Jonas. "I should have shot the damned twat while I was still in there," Roxanne scolded herself. The only reason she did not was because Amata was in the room. Otherwise, she would have done the deed.

One thing that Roxanne was expecting to happen sooner or later was the vault going mad. In her opinion, they were pathetic. When Butch had ran up to her nearly ready to piss himself over radroaches, it was almost too hard to contain her laughter. In the end, Roxanne did help his mother. She figured she would regret the decision later if she did not help Ms. DeLoria out. Butch gave her his jacket as a reward. It smelled of cheap liquor and cigarettes. Roxanne considered burning it.

Although the vault was slowly rejecting her, she still talked to some people, such as Freddie, Stanley, and Beatrice.

Roxanne could stand Freddie, unlike the other Tunnel Snakes. He didn't seem to really fit in with them, just like how Roxanne didn't fit in with the vault. She knows why he hangs out with them because she read his medical file in the lab one day before taking the G.O.A.T. VDS, also knows as Vault-Depressive Syndrome. It seemed like a pain in the ass to have. But she still thinks he's a good kid. They made a good team. With Freddie's awesome lockpicking skill and Roxanne's amazing stealth (or so she liked to call it), they would break into the kitchen late at night for snacks.

Stanley was an alright guy. Roxanne got Pip-Boy Programmer on her G.O.A.T. That meant that she got to spend loads of her time with Stanley to learn the know-hows of Pip-Boys. They enjoyed each others company. When they weren't messing around with Pip-Boys, they talked. Nothing too deep, just small talk. It was pleasant to converse and nerd out about science stuff with someone who accepted her.

Beatrice was the closest thing to a mother that she had. She helped James take care of Roxanne from when she was a toddler while he worked on things in the lab. Beatrice sometimes made her lunches for when she had class, they shared beauty tips, and they even gossiped about other vault dwellers on some occasions when Roxanne was feeling down.

Roxanne's thoughts soon drifted to her father. Did he intend on leaving such an insane mess when he left? Does he know about Jonas? Where did he go? Why did he not take her? Did he not _care_ about her? The questions raced through her head too quickly. She wanted answers. No, she _needed_ answers. And fast.

With her eyes nearly completely adjusted to the sun, Roxanne stood up with a large smile as she lifted her pack back onto her shoulders. "Time to kick some ass and find Dad!" she yelled out. "And maybe kick his ass too," she quietly added with her smile fading and glaring at nothing in particular.

Roxanne began to study what was left of Washington D.C. Next to where she was standing was a "Scenic Overlook" sign. It doesn't look very scenic to her, just a lot of dirt, old burnt buildings, and debris. But she would rather take this sight over the synthetic lights and narrow metal halls of the vault any day. She saw a broken road that led to a small and barren town. Roxanne made her way down the hill towards the road.

Of course, one thing after another.

Roxanne tripped, yelped, and slid down to the base of the slope with wide eyes. She groaned and cursed as she stood up and inspected the damage. "Why am I always so dang clumsy?" The knees of her vault suit were slightly ripped and numerous small rocks were embedded in her knees, right cheek, and the palms of her hands. Her vault suit now had dirt smeared on it. It was already stained in some places with blood, but not hardly any of it was hers. Whenever she finds civilization, Roxanne is sure that she will be quite a sight.

Blowing a few strands of her wild, dark chocolate hair out of her face, she focused on something. It looked like a flying hunk of scrap metal, and whatever it was, it was playing music. It was different, not the kind of music that was played in the vault.

She jogged towards the flying metal thing to give it a better look. Roxanne caught up to it and was just reaching out to touch it when the music ceased and a man's voice spoke through its speakers.

"We live in an age of poverty, greed, violence, destruction. Indeed, the very seat of the federal government, Washington D.C., has been reduced to what is now known as the "Capital Wasteland." The Capital Wasteland... How did it come to this, America? How did your leaders allow the most powerful nation on Earth… to die? The answer is really quite simple: Incompetence."

Roxanne stopped in her tracks, confused.

"Incompetence at the highest echelons of power. We put our trust, our faith, in halfwits. Our intrepid leaders had everything they wanted! Power. Wealth. Prestige. And it made them lazy, America. Oh yes, and laziness breeds stupidity. Rest assured, I will not make the mistakes of my predecessors. When John Henry Eden builds a country, he builds it to last. The American way‒"

She had enough with that nonsense and shot the bot with her 10mm, cutting the man off. Whoever this John Henry Eden was, she already didn't like him.

Roxanne's eyes drifted towards the east. She spotted something in the distance that seemed promising. It could be an actual settlement. Or her one-way ticket to death. Either way, she wanted to check it out. After holstering her gun, she made her way towards it. As she approached it, a protectron that was stationed at the gates spoke to her. "Welcome to Megaton. The bomb is perfectly safe. We promise."

"Bomb? Oh boy."

It was in that moment that Roxanne realized she just got herself in one crazy as heck dilemma and her dad is going to get an earful whenever she finds him.


	2. Chapter 2

The rusty metal gates of Megaton screeched closed behind Roxanne. She took in the sight of the settlement and was rather shocked. When she saw the outside of Megaton, didn't expect there to be so many people living there. Roxanne definitely did not expect so many buildings either. Everything also seemed rather dirty, but that's expected from being out in the Wasteland. Nothing is ever clean anymore.

And of course, as the protectron outside had promised, there was a bomb right in the middle of town.

Roxanne was soon approached by a bearded man in a sheriff's hat. "Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises." He didn't seem too surprised with how bad her appearance looked. Though he did raise an eyebrow when he first saw her. Roxanne felt some relief flood over her. Before she walked into town, she was expecting people to freak out over the blood and grime all over her. But that didn't seem to be that big of a problem.

"I'm Roxanne, it's nice to meet you." She reached her hand in between them and he met her halfway to shake her hand. From the look on his face, Roxanne could tell she was making a great first impression.

"Friendly _and_ well-mannered? I think we're gonna get along just fine." Lucas Simms flashed her a bright smile. "You treat my people nice, and you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like." He was surprised with her kindness. Most people that he had heard about that came from vaults were crazy psychopaths.

"I'm only nice to those who deserve it," Roxanne replied with a smirk. "Anyway, I'm looking for my father. A middle-aged guy, about a foot taller than me. A little on the pale side." She didn't know how else to describe him. "Oh, and he had one of these things!" she added as she pointed to her Pip-Boy.

Lucas Simms paused before answering. "Nope, sorry. I don't have the time to keep tabs on every visitor that comes through. I have enough fires to put out around here as it is.

Roxanne's smile she had adorned moments ago was suddenly gone. She looked down and heaved a heavy sigh. "Damn. Thanks anyway, I guess." She began to walk off but then got an idea. "Do you know a good place where I could ask around?"

He paused yet again before answering, possibly trying to carefully choose his words. "Try Moriarty's. I would be careful with that fellow if I were you, Miss Roxanne." His face became more stern as he continued. "He is _not_ you friend, no matter how what he may say, so don't fall for his lies. For god's sake, just don't trust that man."

"I'll keep that in mind," Roxanne looked back up and grinned. "And another thing before I run off," she started with a glare as her grin faded and her face scrunched up in disgust and anger. "Let's talk about that bomb. Why in the _hell_ is there a bomb right smack in the middle of your town? I'm definitely not buying that 'the bomb is safe' bullshit from bolts and scrap metal outside because that does not look safe at all." Honestly, she was pissed that people just blindly lived there so close to the bomb when it could possibly go off at any moment.

"Ma'am, It's not like the place was put up over night. Megaton's been here for decades, been growing and growing ever since. It started out as a small settlement for people trying to get into Vault 101, but they were denied and some just stuck around here. Some of 'em started worshiping the thing like a god. Now we've got a whole goddamn Church. They're nuts, no doubt, but mostly harmless. By now, most people don't give a shit. They figure if it ain't gone off by now, it never will. I respectfully disagree."

Roxanne thought of a response. Sure she could see about disarming the bomb, but that would put not only her life in danger, but the entire town's lives as well. In the vault, she has only had experience messing around the insides of Pip-Boys and jukeboxes. A bomb is on a completely different level from that stuff; that other stuff is just child's play compared to this. _'I suppose I could try disarming it, but I would have to be careful. I'm putting not only my life at risk, but an entire town of individual lives. But of course if I'm dead, nobody can do crap to me.' _She came to a conclusion. "Well, Simms, I could look into disarming that ugly old thing. I just want you to give me some time to think about it. I don't want to end up killing everyone and myself by rushing right into it."

"Oh, alright, fine. Go easy. If you get the job done, there's 100 caps waiting for you."

"Sounds like a good deal. I'll see you around then!" she hollered as she dashed into the center of town.

Lucas Simms took off his hat and stared at her running figure. "Boy, I pray for that young child."

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><p>Roxanne approached where the bomb was standing and heard a man preaching about something called "The Glow" and "Atom", but she didn't pay much attention. She was only focused on figuring out how in the 9 circles of hell she was supposed to disarm that bomb without purposefully killing everyone. She walked closer to the bomb to get a better look. As soon as she stepped into the puddle of water surrounding the bomb, her Geiger counter began ticking. Roxanne was about to pop off one of the side plates when the man's preaching stopped as he watched her. She made eye contact with him and pulled her hands away from the bomb.<p>

The man gasped. "Who have we here? Could it be? Child, are you here to worship the Great Atom?"

"Um, yeah, sure. Hail Atom and all that." Roxanne squinted her eyes. _'I guess saving the town will have to wait until this crazy guy is somewhere else.' _She quickly walked away and up a nearby ramp. She didn't want to hang around and listen to the guy talk nonsense. Besides, she had to look for more clues about her father. Roxanne saw a sign earlier when she was making her way to the bomb that said "Moriarty's Saloon", so she decided to head over there.

She continued walking, but was soon lost in thought. The main thing on her mind was if her father would be angry with her that she left the vault. He never really did give a reason for why he left. Unless he did and she missed it. That's when Roxanne realized the holodisk she found on Jonas's body was possibly a note that her father left. Jonas was probably supposed to give it to her that morning. But unfortunately, the Overseer got to Jonas first. She neglected to listen to the holodisk earlier. She made a promise to herself to listen to it later whenever she gets the time.

Apparently she was a too lost in her thoughts that she was unaware of the person in front of her. Roxanne bumped into him and she nearly fell backwards. "Oh, what the fuck!" he yelled out. He got a better look at her and noticed her vault suit and Pip-Boy, and he began to scowl harder at her than he was before. "Well, look at this. Another one of you pampered vault assholes. Look here, vault asshole, I don't like you. Watch where you're fucking going next time."

Roxanne gave a dirty look back at him. "How about you watch where you're going? What crawled up your ass, anyway?

"You're from the outside and I've lived too much of my life out there to trust every jackass nobody that wanders in from the Wasteland."

"Whatever your problem is, I suggest you get over it. And fast."

"Well, now. That's something I didn't expect. You're scrappy for a little Vault twerp aren't you? You seem alright though, so I'll cut you a deal. I'll answer your questions so long as you don't give me any more reason to distrust you. Got it?"

Roxanne slightly tilted her head in confusion. "Uh, sure. That sounds okay. I've gotta go, I guess I'll see you around."

"Jericho."

"What?"

"That's my name. Jericho."

"Oh. I'm Roxanne."

"Alright, kid. Later."

With that said, they both went their separate ways. Roxanne suddenly stopped when she realized something. _'I still look really bad and I need new clothes.'_ She didn't exactly know if a place where she could get a new outfit, but she saw a sign for "Craterside Supply" not that far away and that seemed promising. Cleaning up a little would be nice too. If her dad was around here, she sure didn't want to show up looking nasty and messy. He would probably see the blood first and freak out thinking she was bleeding out somewhere.

Roxanne soon found Craterside Supply and entered. Boxes lined the counters and various random items accompanied them. Roxanne walked closer to the counter and peaked over the boxes. She spotted a red haired woman sitting on the floor with her back to the counter, legs crossed, and with lots of tools around her. She seemed to be making something, and Roxanne had no clue what it was. "Hello?"

The woman jumped up and turned around. "Why hello there! I didn't hear you walk in!" She seemed too cheerful for Roxanne's taste. "Hey, I hear you're that stray from the Vault! I haven't seen one of you for years!" Word sure does spread fast, apparently. "Good to meet you! I'm Moira Brown. I run Craterside Supply, but what I really do is mostly tinkering and research." Moira just seemed to get more excited as she went on. "Say, I'm working on a book about the Wasteland it'd be great to have the foreword by a vault dweller. Help me out, would you?"

Roxanne saw no harm in sharing a little bit about the vault. "I sure am. I've got a few things to say about vault life."

Moira's face was bright with curiosity. "Great! Just tell me what it's like to live underground all your life, or to come outside for the first time, or whatever strikes your fancy!"

"It was pretty boring and not a lot of people liked me. I wouldn't mind never seeing that shithole again for the rest of my life."

"That's terrible!" she exclaimed. "But it'll be great for a foreword. So in that sense, it's great! I think you'll like it out here. Just be careful. Otherwise, you might just get recycled into something else's food. That'll be good for the book. In fact, want to help me with the research? I can pay you, and it'll be fun!"

Whatever her definition of "fun" was, it probably wasn't fun to Roxanne. Roxanne really had to look for her dad and this woman was just eating away her time. She shifted her weight onto her other leg. "Yeah sure, whatever. What kind of book is it, anyway?"

Moira put a hand on her chin. "Well, it's a bit dangerous out in the Wastes, right? People could really use a compilation of good advice. Like a Wasteland Survival Guide! For that, I need an assistant to test my theories. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of a mistake. Nobody's ever happy when that happens." Roxanne already didn't like the direction this was going. "No... Then they just yell a lot. At me. With mean, mean words"

Roxanne sighed. "Alright, I'll help. But this better not get me killed."

"Oh, no! I don't think that will happen!"

_'She doesn't think? Oh, boy. Good job, Roxanne. Look what you've gotten yourself into.'_ Roxanne's eyes traveled past Moira's head and saw a vault suit behind her. "Where did you get that vault suit?"

"I'm pretty sure I remember a girl coming into town with that about ten, twelve years ago. She didn't know a thing about the Wastes, and I knew she'd get herself hurt without some sort of protection. So I offered to armor her vault saw her again probably died out there, poor thing. In a way, she gave me the idea to write this book. It's yours, if you help."

It's free, so why the fuck not? "Yeah, I'll take it." Moira took it off the mannequin, folded it up, and handed it to Roxanne. "Can we trade real quick, too?"

"Sure! Let me just clear this counter off!"

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><p>Roxanne walked out of Craterside Supply 342 caps richer and with some new things. Most of what she bought was ammo and basic needs.<p>

Instead of going straight into Moriarty's, she found the women's restroom to change and get cleaned up. Roxanne figured nobody would walk in on her so she stripped down and started the bath water. It was cold. No hot water. "Of course there's no hot water, this isn't the vault," she murmured. Satisfied with the depth of the water, she turned the knobs off and the flow of water ceased. Roxanne stepped in. She could have sworn she felt every hair on her body stand up from the icy feel of the water.

Roxanne ripped some material off of a dirty sheet she bought and used it as a wash cloth. Moira told her that soap, shampoo, and all that kind of hygiene stuff was very rare in the Capitol Wasteland. There was still laundry detergent around, which Roxanne bought a box of for her vault suit. She will just have to deal with it for now until she could find an alternative. Roxanne scrubbed the dirt and blood away. She watched the water turn dirtier as she became angry. Thinking about her father was no longer making her feel worried. Maybe that is why she hasn't just gone straight to Moriarty's for answers. Or was she scared? Scared that he wasn't there and actually never came here? She will never know for sure unless she asks around.

Roxanne hopped out of the bathtub and drained it. She hanged her head the tub and wrung her hair out. She didn't feel clean. In fact, she felt more dirty than before.

She really needed to hurry up because her father was really getting to her.

Roxanne dried herself the best that she could and got into her new vault suit. She took a comb that she brought with her from the vault and walked to one of the mirrors to fix her hair.

Minutes later, she gathered her things and slung her pack onto her shoulders once more.


	3. Chapter 3

Roxanne opened the door to Moriarty's Saloon and walked in, closing it behind her. As soon as she came in, she heard it. The horrid static noise of a bad radio signal. She walked over to the noise and saw a ghoul hitting the radio.

"Son of a bitch! Come on, you piece of junk! Work!"

"Gob, I told you before, it ain't the radio. The Enclave station comes in fine. It's Galaxy News. Their signal's been shit lately," an orange haired woman spoke up before taking another puff of her cigarette.

Roxanne got closer. She got a better look at the ghoul and her hazel eyes widened and her face went pale. "Whoa, what the fuck happened to you?" she squeaked.

He turned towards her and glared, slightly offended. "What, haven't you ever seen a ghoul before?"

Roxanne took a seat at the bar and put her arms on the counter. "No, actually. What's that?" She looked up at him with interest.

He saw her Pip-Boy and vault suit and believed that she was being serious. He had not given _the _talk in a long time. "Well, not all of us got the chance to hole up in a nice cushy vault when the bombs fell. The rest of us got a full on blast of heat and radiation that turned us into a pack of walking corpses. We age a lot slower than a normal smoothskin. Some ghouls that were alive during the war are still here today."

"It probably isn't that bad, right?"

"With a face like Brahmin meat, folks don't take too kindly to us."

"You do look pretty ugly, but you seem kind of cool, too."

"Nice of you to say so. If you can't be nice, then it's best to just pretend, right? Still though, a fake compliment is better than the usual spit in the face that I get." He let out a small chuckle. "You're not half bad, for a smoothskin. Listen, Moriarty'd have my head if he ever caught me selling at a discount, but for you, I'll risk it."

"Are you sure about that? You don't really have to do that." The last thing Roxanne wanted with her new friend here is for him to get into trouble.

"It's fine, kid. Don't worry about it."

"So if you aren't Moriarty, then who are you?"

Gob began to laugh loudly. "You thought I was Moriarty? Oh man, that's rich, smoothskin. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm Gob."

"Gob, huh? I'm Roxanne." She looked over to the radio and pointed at it with her thumb. "That thing is being all screwy, right? Can I take a look at it? I used to take things apart in the vault all the time."

Gob thought for a moment. "Sure thing. My ass is on the line if you break it. "

Roxanne smiled widely and pulled some tools out of her bag and got to work. She decided to ask about her father as she worked. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have seen a middle-aged guy? He's a little pale and has one of these Pip-Boys." She waved her Pip-Boy around at the mentioning of it. "He's my father."

"Oh, yeah! I do remember a guy like that," Gob lowered his voice. "Honestly, I usually try to keep my head down. I tend to get smacked around if I look customers in the eyes. But talk to Moriarty, he'll know more."

Roxanne pulled the back off of the radio after taking out the screws. _'Moriarty, huh? God, I hope he isn't a huge weirdo. I've had enough of weirdos in my life.' _She took a look inside of the radio and everything seemed to be where it should be. _'Wait a second, that means dad probably isn't here. Has he gone somewhere else already?'_ She put the back of the radio back on and put the screws in. "You know what? That chick was right. It is whatever station you had it on before."

Gob groaned. "Thanks anyway. I guess we'll have to listen to that Enclave shit for awhile longer." He grabbed a dirty shot glass that a customer left and began to clean it. "Want a drink, smoothskin?"

Roxanne had never had alcohol before. Sure she had thought about it before, but that was only curiosity. Most older teens had those thoughts. Her dad wouldn't ever let her drink until she was at least a little older. "A drink sounds good. How about some vodka?" Boy, was her dad going to kill her if he ever finds out.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the bottle of vodka that Gob grabbed slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor. He flinched and squeezed his eyes shut.

A door slammed open from behind him and an older man stepped out. "Gob, boy-o! You're gonna pay for that later, ya careless zombie!"

His presence made her seethe with anger._ 'The hell is that all about?' _Something inside Roxanne told her to not lash out at him. She took a different approach. Roxanne rose from her chair and rested her hands on the edge of the counter. "Hey, you! Are you Moriarty?"

The man turned towards her. "Yeah, what the hell do ya want?"

Roxanne's face brightened. "Have you seen my father? He's a middle-aged guy that has one of these Pip-Boys." She smiled wider as she went on.

Colin Moriarty's eyes widened. "My God... It's you. The little baby girl, all grown up. Persistent little flower, ain't ya? Then and now, it would seem. It's been a long time, kid."

Roxanne scowled at him. "I wasn't born in the vault? That's complete bullshit, and you know it," she snapped.

"Ahh, I see. Ya know, I heard about the brainwashin' that goes on down there. From some other fella, escaped, oh... five years back. 'All hail the Overseer! We're born in the Vault; we die in the Vault!' And all that other assorted lunacy." He waved his arms around in exasperation at the last part. "Kid, you've got better programming than our own Deputy Weld." He walked out from behind the counter and made his way towards her. "You'd best wise up quick." Moriarty put an arm around her shoulders. "Wouldn't want anyone... takin' advantage of ya. Hmm?" His hand gave her shoulder a squeeze and he moved his face closer to hers.

Roxanne shrugged away his arm, scrunching her face up in disgust. "You're a damn liar, Moriarty. I know where I grew up. My father wouldn't have lied to me. Besides, the vault hadn't even opened for years before he left!"

Moriarty cackled loudly and shook his head. "God in Heaven, would ya listen to yourself? Do you honestly believe that's true? The lies they've put into that head of yours. Your father brought you to the Vault right after you were born. To keep ya safe, you see. I remember it well you stayed in my saloon, after all. But, no matter. That big round door has opened now, hasn't it?" A sinister grin grew onto his face. "Daddy's gone, and you need to know why. Could be I know where, and why..."

"Tell me what you know. Just tell me everything!" Roxanne was growing more and more tired of this bastard and just wanted to get the hell out of here to find her father.

"What a temper. And yer father was so reserved. Take after our mum, do we? God rest her soul."

Roxanne looked down at the mention of her mother. "I just want to find my father. Can you just tell me where he is?" she asked in a more quiet voice.

"You seem like a nice kid, so I'm going to be straight with ya. Your dad was here, and now he's not, and yes I know where he went. But what you're asking me for is information, and information is a commodity. Let's say... 100 caps, and daddy's location is yours. Very reasonable, don't ya think?"

Of course the greedy creep was going to ask for money. She dug into one of the side pouches of her pack and pulled out a bundle of caps. Roxanne had thought of a good system while at Craterside Supply. She used some scrap material and wrapped it around bundles of 25 caps. It was easier to count and it made less noise. She pulled out four bundles. "Here. Now tell me where my father is," Roxanne demanded.

"Actually, make that 300 caps. Information is a valuable thing these days."

Roxanne gritted her teeth together. She had the caps, but that would leave her with hardly any left. Besides, this guy was crazy suddenly increasing the amount. Did he think she wouldn't have that amount of caps at first? "This is ridiculous. Nevermind, then. I'll find my own way."

"Will you? Well, good luck with that. So far as I know, I'm the only one your Dad told where he was going. So, when you change your mind, come see me. 300 caps, Daddy wouldn't think twice if it were you out there..." Now the asshole was just playing with her head. Roxanne wasn't buying it. He finally walked away and back inside the room he was in before, roughly slamming the door shut behind him. Roxanne let a small smirk slide onto her face. _'He's pissed that he can't milk out caps from the naive, young vault dweller, who was new to the wastes. What a joke.'_

"Uh, do you still want that vodka?"

Roxanne looked up at Gob and her face softened. "No, it's alright. Here, I'll pay for that broken bottle, since Sir Douchebag said he was going to charge you for it." She set one of her bundles of caps on the counter. It was more than enough to pay for the bottle, but he was cool in her book. Cool people deserve a little extra.

Gob stiffened and slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thanks I guess"

Roxanne took note of his behavior. Something had bothered him when she said that. She'll look into what his deal is later. Now, she had to figure out what the heck she was going to do now. She could have just given Moriarty the 300 caps and been on her way, but she didn't feel like that would be right. He was also known for lying. What would have stopped him from sending her into a death trap? _'There has to be another way to find out about Dad.' _For all she knew, her father could have been somewhere in town right now, but she was sure he would have gotten word that another vault dweller was in town. "I should head out. Thanks for everything, Gob."

"Alright, kid. Stay safe."

Roxanne winked at him. "I'll try." She turned around and walked towards the door. She was just grab the door knob when she heard somebody call for her. She paused and tried to locate the owner of the voice. It was a man in a clean, fancy business suit and glasses. _'He doesn't look like he belongs here. He looks too important. Like he's here for some kind of business.'_ Roxanne being Roxanne, she approached him anyway.

"My, my. Just when I had all but given up hope. My dear girl, I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I am Mister Burke."


	4. Chapter 4

_'Who the heck is this creep, really?'_ Roxanne was feeling rather anxious being around him. Something didn't feel quite right. "If you have a point, make it."

"As you wish. I'm looking to employ an individual with no ties to Megaton, no interest in its future." Burke leaned forward. "Megaton is obsolete. The last vestige of a cobbled, desperate past. It needs to... go away. And you are going to see that it does."

"What's in it for me if I happen to decide to help you?" Roxanne asked. _'Playing along won't hurt, right?'_

"You mean besides doing the world a favor by removing this pestilent scab of a town?" he chuckled. "Why, you'd be rewarded most handsomely! My employer is a very generous man. If it's bottle caps and luxury you're seeking. You shall have it!"

"We're talking about a lot of innocent people here, Burke. Can't I warn them? Like, move them somewhere-"

Burke raised his voice. interrupting her in the process, "Absolutely not! The place, the people, they're one and the same! Sacrifices for a nobler future. I assure you, they are worth ten times as much in death, as they are in life."

_'Well, there goes that idea.'_ Roxanne would have had no problem detonating that bomb if she could get everyone to evacuate and move somewhere else. But since that isn't an option, she'll just have to convince this guy to roll the fuck out of Megaton and take his "business" somewhere else. Roxanne thought up of a different plan. Probably not a good plan, but a plan, nevertheless. "Well, Mister Burke," Roxanne's voice dropped an octave. "I have a "proposition" of my own. Would you like to here it?" She was glad that she cleaned up earlier.

"Color me intrigued. Go on..."

_'Ugh, I really don't want to do this. This is really, just, ew.'_ Roxanne seated herself onto his lap and traced a finger down the side of his face. "You see, I live here, lover. And surely you wouldn't want to hurt me, hm?"

"Well... I... I mean... Of course not," he stuttered. "I must admit, I've never met a woman quite like you before. This changes everything... I'm not sure what I'm going to tell Tenpenny... I'll think of something..." He put two hands on Roxanne's hips and gently lifted her off of him. She was a rather tiny thing, being 5'1". If she remembers correctly, back in the vault, she was the shortest in her class. Everyone else towered over her. "You wait here my dear. I have some important business to attend to. But you won't be waiting long. I shall send for you soon."

Whatever he meant by sending for her soon, Roxanne didn't want to find out. She kept her smile plastered on her face. "I can't wait, love." Burke leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Have patience, and farewell."

She watched as he walked out before dropping the act. Her body let loose a couple shakes, as if to shake the feeling of Burke off of her. "Ugh, gross. I can't believe I did that." Roxanne checked her Pip-Boy for the time. It was getting late. That meant the guy preaching about the bomb from earlier was most likely turning in for the night.

She waited a few minutes before leaving so that she didn't run into Mister Burke. _'Mister Burke, more like Mister Creep.' _She smiled at her own joke. When Roxanne left, she leaned over the railing in front of the saloon to get a look at the people near the bomb. The man was gone. Roxanne began to make her way down to the bomb. She approached the side where she was previously going to start her work. _'Fuck blowing up the town for that guy. He can shove a cactus up his precious Tenpenny's ass.' _Roxanne switched on her Pip-Boy's light and she took a look inside. Her eyes widened and she held her breath.

There were so many wires. So many god damned wires. _'What the heck am I supposed to do with this clusterfuck?'_

With her breath still held, she stuck her hand inside and pulled something out that was connected to most of the wires. She counted the seconds in her head until she got to ten. Roxanne released her breath. "I did it!" she breathed with relief. She stuck the panel back on and put the device she pulled out into her bag. The time on her Pip-Boy read 8:53PM when she left Moriarty's, no more than ten minutes should have passed. Maybe she can find Simms tonight and tell him that his town won't have to worry about the bomb any more.

Roxanne found Lucas Simms where he usually is, patrolling the entrance of Megaton. She rushed up to him. "Hey there, Simms. Guess what?" Roxanne took the thing that she pulled out of the bomb out of her bag and placed it in his hand. "You know what that's from? That huge ugly thing right in the middle of your town."

"I'll be damned! You did it, didn't you? You disarmed that thing!"

"It wasn't that hard," she grinned.

"Y'know, we could use someone like you living in town. We've got an empty place up behind the Brass Lantern. Here's the key and deed. And, as promised, your caps." He handed her the items.

Roxanne looked up at him with wide eyes. "Are you sure? You've only known me for a few hours! I could run around and shoot up the town for all you know!"

"Anyone that takes the time to help us all out is okay in my book. You don't seem like the kind of kid to do that anyway," he replied.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate this." Roxanne turned to leave.

"Hold up a minute. A stranger did come through recently. Had a look in his eye. You know the kind a man gets when he's got a purpose. All I know is that he went to Moriarty's."

Roxanne turned her head around to look at him. "Yeah, I found that out earlier. Thanks again."

* * *

><p>Roxanne stood at the front door of her new home. She took out the key and stared at it before unlocking the door. "I can't believe this is really happening," she whispered. Roxanne turned the handle and walked inside.<p>

"Good evening, madam." The sound of a robotic voice made Roxanne jump and put her hand on her gun and whipped it out. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Wadsworth, your personal robotic butler. I am here to look after your needs and to keep you happy and entertained. So please, don't shoot."

Roxanne slowly lowered her gun. "Sorry about that. Simms failed to mention there was a fricking _butler_ that came with the house. So what else can you do?"

"I can give you a haircut and purify water."

This day was turning out great. "That's cool Wadsworth." Roxanne let out a loud yawn. "I'm tired, so I'm going to head to bed."

Wadsworth returned to his charging pad and Roxanne walked up the stairs to where she figured the bedroom would be. The house wasn't anything spectacular. It had the same dim lighting and the same metal walls and flooring as Moriarty's. Still, it was absolutely fantastic that she had a home. Not even twenty-four hours in the Wasteland and she already had a place to sleep. Roxanne entered the room left of the stairs and set her pack next to the bed. She then collapsed on the bed stomach first. "Sweet, sweet, _beautiful_ slumber, please take me."

She was just closing her eyes when her stomach rumbled long and loud. "Dang, I don't think I've eaten yet." She rolled onto her back and reached for her bag. Digging around, she found a potato and a box of Dandy Boy Apples. Potatoes were her favorite food, even though fresh potatoes were rather scarce. It was still a treat to have one once in awhile. Roxanne took out the box of Dandy Boy Apples, leaving the potato to consume later. She ripped off the top of the box, opened the package, and began to dig in.

Roxanne could live like this. It is more difficult to live out here than the vault, but she could get used to it. She truly could.


	5. Chapter 5

Roxanne's eyelids fluttered open. She groaned as she sat up. Her back popped when she stretched her arms above her head. "Oh, that feels good," she moaned. The events of the previous day came to her head and she frowned. "I still don't know where Dad is. Fuck Moriarty. I should just give him his caps," Roxanne rambled. "Unless there's another way to find him. Maybe that orange-haired chick could know something. I haven't talked to her yet. Well, let's roll!"

Roxanne crawled out of bed and grabbed her pack to empty it. She was so exhausted last night that she didn't have a chance to organize her things like she had wanted. All that she did after having her late dinner was strip herself of her vault suit. She flipped her bag upside down and the contents emptied onto her bed in front of her. The one thing that caught her eye was Butch's leather jacket. Honestly, she had completely forgotten about it. Roxanne grabbed it and carelessly tossed it on the top of her dresser.

"I really need to get more stuff from Moira." She actually didn't have much else in the bag. Just a potato, a couple bottles of water, three stimpaks, caps, and ammo. Roxanne then looked at the other article of clothing on the dresser. "I also need something else to wear besides this damn ugly vault suit." She grabbed a bottle of slightly glowing and dirty water and her toothbrush. "I don't think I saw a bathroom here...To the kitchen sink it is, I guess."

Roxanne exited out of her room to see Wadsworth floating about downstairs. She trekked down the stairs to speak with him.

"Good morning, madam!" he greeted.

"Hello there, Wadsworth. Say, didn't you mention something about being able to cut hair last night?"

"Yes. I am programmed with a multitude of hair shaping scenarios, if you would care to choose one, I would be happy to replicate it for you."

Roxanne let a small smile appear. "Yeah. That sounds nice."

* * *

><p>With freshly brushed teeth and neater hair, Roxanne walked into Craterside Supply and the crazy redhead was nowhere to be seen. Just as she was about to turn around and walk out, a large puff of smoke flowed from upstairs. "What the heck? Moira?" Roxanne ran up the stairs to investigate but slammed into someone on the way up and their heads collided. She let out a quiet curse as she held her head in pain.<p>

"Ouch! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Oh, your hair is different!"

"Yeah, Moira, my hair is different. It's called a haircut," she groaned. "What was going on up there? You trying to start a house fire?"

Moira rapidly shook her head. "No, no, no! I was working on an experiment. Do you want to know more about it?"

Roxanne's head snapped up and she held her hands up. "N-no that's fine! I just want to buy some crap."

"Aw, alright, sourpuss, you're no fun." Moira walked behind the counter. "So, what do you need?"

"I need something else to wear besides this hideous vault suit," Roxanne gestured at her apparel. "I'm basically going to be a target out here if I keep wearing this thing. Besides, it doesn't exactly protect me from much of anything. Especially that fall I had on the way here." She looked away slightly embarrassed about her last statement. "Do you have some real armor?"

Moira put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, I think I may have some leather armor around. Let me check in the back!"

Roxanne watched as Moira bounced to the other room. _'That woman is something else.'_ She made brief eye contact with Moira's mercenary that stood next to the doorway. He nodded back at her. Moira came into Roxanne's sight. "That's a lot of boxes" The woman was carrying four boxes stacked on top of each other, carefully balancing them. Moira set them on the counter space.

"Well, here's all of the armor I have in stock right now!"

Roxanne walked over to the boxes and began to sort through them. Most of it was raider armor. In the last box, Roxanne thanked whatever god was up there. Leather armor in beautiful condition was at the bottom of it. She lifted it up. "How much?"

Moira clapped her hands together. "140 caps!"

Roxanne clinched her teeth together. _'That means I won't have enough caps to pay Moriarty in case that random chick doesn't know anything.'_ She took in and let out a few deep breaths to calm herself. "How about 100?"

"No can do, friend! But I will accept 120."

"Deal," Roxanne agreed as she reluctantly got her pouch of caps out to count out the total. She placed the amount next to the stacks of boxes. With the leather armor now folded and in her arms, she turned to leave. "Thanks, I guess."

"Come back soon!"

* * *

><p>Roxanne returned to her home to change. Wadsworth was tidying a few things up in her room, and even though he was just a robot, she still felt uncomfortable changing in front of him. She thought he would be able to record her or something like that. <em>'But what good would that do for him,'<em> she scoffed. After getting the robot butler to leave, she closed the door and changed. The straps and buckles confused Roxanne. The only thing she had to worry about back in good ol' Vault 101 was if the zipper to her vault suit would get stuck. She tried her best with figuring out what went where.

Roxanne looked down at herself and grinned in triumph. "Much better." She placed her gun in its holster and left her room.

At first, she was going to leave for Moriarty's. Her stomach's rumbling protest caused her to stop where she was and glare. "Jackass. Alright, I'll feed you." She entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator that she never checked before. Her curiosity deserves to die. The door was slammed shut as quickly as it was opened. _'Jesus H. Christ, whoever lived here before should really think about taking the rest of their shit with them.' _Roxanne decided never to open the fridge without protection again. _'Maybe I can heat up that potato.' _Roxanne walked to the locker across the main room to retrieve said potato.

* * *

><p>The air of Moriarty's was still a nasty stale smell. Roxanne hated every second of being in there, but she had things to do. It didn't take her long at all to locate Gob. "Hey, Gob. Where's your lady friend at? The one in the blue outfit?"<p>

Gob looked hesitant to answer. "She has a..._customer_." Whatever it was, he didn't seem too keen about it.

"Where at? I don't see her around. Oh well," Roxanne sat in a chair in front of where Gob was leaning on the counter. "Let's chat for awhile, then."

He gave her a confused look before replying. "Sorry, smoothskin, but this ghoul has stuff to do."

"Jeez, fine." She crossed her arms and pouted, much like a small child.

He sighed. "Do you want a drink or anything?"

Roxanne put her arms down on the counter and put her head down on top of them. "No, I'm okay," she mumbled. "I just want to ask your girlfriend a thing and then haul ass out of here. No offense, but this bar gives me the creeps."

Gob nearly dropped the glass he was polishing at the mention of "girlfriend". He let out a dry laugh. "Nah, Nova's not my girlfriend, as nice as that would be."

Roxanne lifted her head up. "Why aren't you together then?" she pried.

"Kid, there's a lot about the wasteland that you don't know. Ghouls aren't meant to be with humans." He set his rag and glass down and put both hands on the edge of the counter for support. "We're completely different, if you haven't noticed."

Roxanne's eyes showed a glint of amusement. "Don't be silly. We have the same organs. Same kind of emotions. You're the same as humans. Except with that radiation thing. And losing hair and noses and stuff. Uh, well, never mind I guess we are different." What was meant to be a long, meaningful speech about how ghouls and humans are relatively the same turned into a wreck. "God, I'm sorry, Gob. You can still try, though. It won't hurt to try. Have you before?"

He closed his eyes, exhaled heavily, and ran a hand through what was left of his brown hair. "Yeah, I've tried. I hear the things she tells people about me when she's high off of Jet. Those aren't nice things she says, either. I have no chance."

Roxanne placed a hand over one of his. "Hey, now, don't be like that. She might come around." She quickly pulled her hand away as she heard footsteps over the nose of the bar to her left. Jericho, who was still fixing his clothes, came down the stairs followed by Nova, who had a bored look on her gentle face. "Gob, I'll talk later," Roxanne whispered before getting up to approach Nova after Jericho left.

"Hey, you're the vault kid from yesterday."

"Yeah, and I have a name. It's Roxanne. You're Nova, right?"

"I am. Who's asking?"

"Well, Nova, I am looking for my father. And your greedy bastard of a boss wants to charge me a lot of caps for information that I deserve." Roxxane leaned closer. "Do you happen to know of a way for me to get that information?"

Nova was silent for a long time as she looked frantically at the closed door next to Gob. Eventually, she answered. "You see that door there? That's Moriarty's office. That's as much as I'm going to tell you. Good luck finding that handsome father of yours." She walked past Roxanne to return to her usual spot next to the radio.

_'I guess I'll have to come back here when the place is dead and asleep.'_

* * *

><p>While waiting for it to be early morning, Roxanne slept the rest of the day away. Now she was currently trying to pick the back door of Moriarty's shithole saloon. She didn't have many bobby pins to begin with. Her third bobby pin broke and she cursed. "One more time before I give up and use the front door," she muttered. Thankfully, the last one did it and she slipped inside.<p>

Roxanne's eyes searched and studied the room. In the far right corner, she spotted a terminal. Terminals usually hold useful information. Whether or not it would have anything about her dad, she would probably find something good.

She sat down and got to work. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she stared at the screen. _'Thank you dad for teaching me something useful.'_ The computer beeped quietly when she got in.

Her heard began to pound faster. So close to possibly getting answers. Roxanne saw a folder labeled "visitor logs" and opened it. She nearly fell from her chair when she saw her dad's name in one of the entries.

_'So, out of nowhere, James came back to Megaton. Since he stayed here before he asked me where the hell he could get a lay of land and find out what's going on in the world. I told him about Galaxy News Radio in the ruins of D.C., and that guy Three Dog. Then Like that, he was gone again.'_

Roxanne didn't bother to finish reading. She logged off of the terminal and rushed out the door with a wide smile.


End file.
